


Booker Whump

by UnstableAngel



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Depressed Frenchboi, F/F, F/M, M/M, Redemption?, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26843374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnstableAngel/pseuds/UnstableAngel
Summary: 3 months into exile, Booker's not doing so well. The immortal fam come to get him.When Quynh escapes her watery prison, she blames Booker for convincing her family to stop looking for her.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastian le Livre/Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Booker Whump

“Nile, you got me this far but I refuse to see that fucking traitor’s face!”

Nile glares at Joe and stomps her way up to Booker’s Paris apartment alone, the other three standing directly outside the building on the narrow strip of sidewalk common in this part of the city.

She knocks on the door, but when there is no answer, she scrounges around until she finds a key under the mat. “He’s probably drunk. Let’s just go,” Joe yells from the door downstairs. Given that it’s dark outside, it’s probably true, but she ignores him for the moment.

Booker’s betrayal never really affected her so all she feels for the depressed alcoholic Frenchman is concern. Nile unlocks the door and walks in.

Immediately, she’s accosted by the horrific smell of decay and death. “Booker?! Book where are you?” The apartment is pretty small so she finds him quickly - illuminated by the harsh white lights of the apartment - curled tight in the fetal position on a comforter in boxers and a sweater that looks enormous on him. He is writhing weakly, grasping at his throat for a minute, then goes slack, allowing her to see dozens of shallow scratch marks on his neck.

“Please be alive. Please. Jesus, Booker.” Nile continues to mutter as she checks for his pulse. Thankfully, it's there, but it’s weak and fluttery. “Ok,” she breathes out, “ok I’m going to get the others. Stay here, ok?” Booker starts spasming again and Nile flees, yelling for Nicky.

All three of them come up the stairs, boots and sneakers slamming into the stairs. When they find her, she’s delicately pulling Booker’s head onto her lap and smoothing her thumb over his too prominent cheekbone. They freeze and Nile has to call their names a couple of times before they come back.

“Nicky, what do we do?” Nile says softly, and Nicky drops into a significantly more professional demeanor. He has somewhat become the official team doctor, though it’s only been Andy before and never to this degree.

Nicky starts rattling off orders. “He needs fluids fast so I’m going to start a line. I don’t-” he pauses to take a deep breath. “I don’t know how long he’s been like this but we have to get him clean. That should wake him from the visions. Nile, stay with him. Joe, can you make something. Light, otherwise his body will reject it. Andy, find something you can fill with warm water.”

Apparently, Joe does not hear him. Instead, he takes a few steps towards Booker and stops again. Booker’s eyes flutter open again. “Joseph?” he asks, trying to push himself to sit up. When his muscles fail him and Nile pulls him back down, he tries again. “Joseph, did you get yourself captured too,  _ connard _ ?” Booker pulls his teeth into something resembling a smile, but then his eyes close and he is silent.

Joe makes a broken sound and flees to the kitchen. The rest of them are all horrified by Booker’s condition, but Andy gives voice to the one question burning in their minds. “Did he mean to go alone to Merrick?”

It’s quiet for a moment, then Nicky starts talking. “We can’t worry about that right now. He’s clearly not with us, his body must not have enough energy to heal. And he’s so thin,  _ merda _ . Libretto,  _ mio fratello _ ,” Nicky whispers, “what have you done to yourself?” 

None of them can really breathe properly after that.

When Andy comes back with a bucket of warm water she looks like she’s in the middle of a battlefield with no time to spare, shoulders squared and face hard.

The three of them start wiping Booker down, trying to remove the worst of the grime and grease accumulated in layers on his skin. Booker wakes by the time they make their way up to his face. At least, partially.

“Nico? You finally came? Where’s Joesph” His blue eyes are glassy. “I told those Nazi bastards you would. Joesph? And who are you?” He directs his last question to Nile, slurring badly.

In the kitchen, a knife comes down hard on something and something else crashes to the floor. Nicky has to turn away so his expression does not give him away. Andy has always had a better poker face. “He’s coming Book. Just getting you something so you don’t waste away.” They had taken the sweatshirt off to clean him and now his ribs are on full display, the sight made worse by the heavily contrasting shadows cast from the singular light in the room.

“Oh, okay,” he replies, turning his face into Nile’s lap.

Andy clearly is not ok with that. “Book? Booker, I need you to stay awake for me.”

Booker only grumbles. Andy goes to try and wake him again but Nicky stops her, saying that his body probably has nothing it can use to fuel him and that they will feed him as soon as Joe has something. The lack of nutrients is likely affecting his ability to differentiate between past and present. They bundle him into one of the cleaner blankets and move him onto the ratty couch, Nicky holding Booker upright on one side with Nile on the other.

Andy drags a chair in front of Booker and takes the bowl of soup from Joe. Slowly, she starts giving it to Booker, who clearly would rather go back to sleep. This time though, Nicky coaxes him into eating until he finishes the bowl.

Joe can’t seem to take his eyes off Booker now that they both are still. For all that Joe blames Booker for the torture he and Nicky went through with Merrick, it seems like it hurts him just as much to see what Booker has deemed a fit punishment for himself. Nile slips out from her spot with an excuse so Joe can hold him.

They allow him a fifteen-minute nap, trying to calm him as he whimpers and gasps. He wakes babbling about another mission, another time, another place. Joe and Nicky hoist him between the both of them - though Joe stays so close to him he could probably support Booker alone - and take him into the shower while Nile calls Copley to have him set up a place for them to go. It goes unsaid that none of them are willing to stay.

Eventually, the door to the bathroom opens and the three men come out, Booker much cleaner and somewhat lucid. He keeps glancing at them like they are going to disappear, going from Andy to Nicky to Joe to Nile. Just as he opens his mouth, Andy interrupts in her usual no-nonsense, I’m-the-boss voice. “Copley got us a place ten minutes out and a car is coming in a few. Is there anything you need from here Book?”

Booker wearily shakes his head no and he hunches further, looking like Andy is going to kick him at any moment. Nile asks again, voice softer, and Booker manages to point behind her to a box on his dresser, sneaking glances at Andy.

“Okay,” Nile says, and goes to pick up the box. Andy herds them out of the apartment after that, acting - for all intents and purposes - like this is a mission and they are running out of time.

The car Copley booked for them arrives soon after they leave the apartment, and they all bundle into the seats, squishing Booker between them. At this point, he still looks somewhat dazed but mostly just tired and desperate. He clings to the hand Joe offers him yet keeps him at arm’s length. Nicky is seated on Joe’s lap, so Joe squeezes him tight instead.

The ride seems to take forever. No one, including the driver, says anything the entire way to the safehouse, but finally, they arrive and Nile, Nicky, Joe, and Andy pour out of the car. Andy tips the driver as the other three grab their bags from the trunk and then start to move towards the house.

They are almost at the door before they realize they are missing someone. Booker is standing behind the open door of the car, the hand resting on the frame opens and closes the door minutely, fidgeting. He stares after them desperately. “I-I’ll um. I’ll find somewhere,” his gaze drops to his feet. “I can find somewhere else,” he finishes. After a moment, he says quietly, “I’m sorry. I’ll be better. I promise. I can get better.”

Joe grabs onto Nicky to steady himself and then they both move forward. “Maybe,” says Nicky, “but we will not abandon you to do so by yourself. Granted, we didn’t do much to help you before, but we have learned much since. We  _ want _ to help, Book.”

Booker looks less than convinced, but the driver honks and drives off.

“Let us be better for you. Let us help you be better.” Joe hesitates a second then says, “please?”

The Frenchman’s next words are barely loud enough to travel to Andy. “Would it be ok if I said yes?”

Immediately the three elder immortals move to pull him towards the house, whispering “of course” and “you can always ask for help Booker” as they go.

By this time, midnight has come and gone, but Andy and Nile drag a couple mattresses from the rooms into the living room while Joe grabs as many blankets as he can find. Meanwhile, Nicky pulls Booker into the kitchen and has him help with hot chocolate despite the ninety-degree weather outside.


End file.
